South African History: War, Apartheid, and Resistance

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes covering the South African War, Apartheid laws, resistance movements like the ANC and PAC, and the transition to democracy in $$1994$$.

South african War

A conflict between Boers and Britain caused by the British desire for greater political and economic control over gold.

Scorched-Earth Policy

A strategy involving the destruction of forms, homes, and crops to weaken Boer resistance.

Concentration - Camps

Locations where many Boer women and children suffered from harsh conditions and diseases during the South Afnean War.

Peace of Vereeniging

The treaty that ended the war; many Afncons hoped it would provide more rights but felt betrayed when it did not.

Passbooks

Documents used during early segregation to justify who individuals were.

Colour Bors

A labor system where skilled labor was reserved for whites only and unskilled labor was for Afrin kons.

$1913$ Natives Land Act

The foundation for economic disparity between Africans and Afrocaners, stating Africans cannot exist in urban areas or own arable land.

ANC ($1912$)

An organization that utilized passive resistance and major nonviolent demonstrations against passbooks.

Industrial Commercial Workers

A Communist Organization that organized strikes throughout the country.

SAIC ($1893$)

An organization led by Gandhi that organized Indians to demand basic human rights.

Satyagrahal

Translated as 'The Struggle for Truth', it is the root of the nonviolent form of resistance against white discrimination.

National Party

The political group that created a single party dictatorship to rule South Africa from $1948$ to $1994$.

Black Peril

A slogan or warning used by the National Party meaning 'Beware of the africans'.

Red Peril

A slogan or warning used by the National Party meaning 'Beware of the communists'.

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages act

An apartheid law stating that whites and members of other racial groups cannot marry.

Immortality act

A law prohibiting sexual relations between whites and other racial groups.

Grand Apartheid

The systematic separation of races.

Population Registration Act

A law establishing that once an individual justifies their race, it cannot be undone.

Group areas act

A law that forced people who lived in cities and towns to move to townships.

Suppression of Communism Act

A law decreeing that any group opposing the national government is considered communist and will be punished.

natives Abolition of passes + Coordination of does oct ($1952$)

Legislation regarding the abolition of passes and the coordination of documents.

Bantu Education Act

A policy stating there would be no African education after elementary school.

Luthuli

President of the ANC who resisted radicalness and enforced the first mass protest led by the ANC.

CYL (Congress Youth League)

The organization representing the youth of Africans.

Mandela

Future president of the ANC who led large scale protests and was released from prison on $02/11/1990$.

Defiance Campaign ($1952$)

A resistance strategy where participants aimed to get arrested to overcrowd jails or achieve success.

Congress of the People

An assembly that collected ideas from the general population to help shape the future of South Africa.

Freedom Charter

A document asserting that South Africa must move toward a nonracial future.

Charterism

A state where all different groups agree on what course of action to take.

Public Safety Act

A law that expanded the ability of the police to declare a state of emergency.

Criminal Law Amendment Act

Legislation focused on arbitrary criminalness that extended penalties for violating laws based on intent.

Promotion of Bantu Self-Gumt Act ($1959$)

A law that stopped the citizenship of Africans.

Treason Thal ($1957$-$1961$$)

A legal process where $156$ defendants were tried for creating a communist conspiracy.

PAC

The Pan-Africanist Congress, which adheres to Pan-Africanism.

Pan-Africanism

The belief that ONLY Africans should occupy South Africa.

Robert Sobukwe

A leader who attempted to negotiate with police for peaceful arrests of Africans, although the police chose violence.

Sharpeville Massacre

A turning point where police fired shots into the backs of Africans attacking the concept of passbooks peacefully, resulting in $69$ deaths and $186$ wounded.

MK

Also known as Spear of the nation, this group used small bombs to damage administrative offices in Port Elizabeth.

Poqo

The military branch of the PAC (meaning Pure/Independent in Xhosa) that practiced guerrilla tactics.

Rivonia Tnal

A trial where leaders were tried for sabotage and conspiracy against the government.

Sabotage act

A law giving the government power to arrest anyone it believed threatened the security of the country.

$90$ day act

An arbitrary law allowing the government to detain people without charges or trials for up to $90$ days, after which the cycle could restart.

Black Conciousness

A movement that excluded whites and pressed for increased rights to end 'separate development'.

Steve Biko

An individual who was arbitrarily arrested and murdered by South African Police.

SOWETO

The South West Township of Joannesburg where high school students protested due to a lack of materials in their schools.

Necklocing

A violent protest method where car tires filled with rags were placed around individuals' bodies and burned.

Soft Targets

Locations like bus stations and restaurants that were easier to attack due to low security.

Black on Block crimes

False information used as an excuse for increased police presence and restrictions.

FW de Klerk

The last National Party prime minister who unbanned various anti-apartheid groups.

TRC

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, designed to unearth the 'truth' of Apartheid and contribute to national healing and reconciliation.

Desmond Tutu

A key figure who aimed to teach South Africans about the horrific tactics used by the government to eliminate anti-apartheid activists.

Elechons of $1994$

The first time Africans were able to vote, based on the Freedom Charter with the exception of land redistribution.